Do you aspire to work in the UK? Have you been offered a job opportunity from the UK? Employers in the UK are in search of skilled workers from over the world and their search meets end in the form of skilled migrants on UK Tier 2 General category visas. However, one of the most important pre-requisite of hiring a skilled worker from overseas is the issue of Certificate of Sponsorship or commonly known as CoS from the employer.

The employers in UK turn to Tier 2 General category for meeting their employment needs when resources for a skilled job are not available in the UK. In such a case, foreign nationals from outside the UK, European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland are offered skilled jobs in the UK. In order to apply for a UK Tier 2 General or Work Permit, the applicant needs to satisfy certain conditions like obtaining Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) from the employer, evidence the appropriate salary is paid, meet the English language requirements, evidence funds to the least of £945 for a continuous period of 90 days in the bank account towards maintenance and certain other conditions.

As discussed earlier, CoS is thus one of the important elements for obtaining Tier 2 General Visa in the UK. Certificate of sponsorship basically is a document stating the personal information and details about the job offered in the UK. This certificate is issued by the employer who is the applicant’s sponsor in the UK. The CoS bears a sponsorship reference number which needs to be entered into the application for Tier 2 General Visa and the same can be used only once within 3 months of obtaining it from the employer. Now, there are two kinds of Certificate of Sponsorship:

  • Restricted Certificate of Sponsorship – this type of CoS is required where the annual earnings/ salary offered to be paid to the skilled migrant meets the required minimum criterion depending upon his job but is less than £155,300 or more per annum, or his job is not under the shortage occupation list. There is a yearly limit on the number of unrestricted CoS issued under UK Tier 2 General
  • Unrestricted Certificate of Sponsorship – this type of CoS is required where the skilled migrant is offered a job under shortage occupation list or the salary offered to be paid is more than £155,300 per annum.

UK Tier 2 General category is thus a platform for all the aspiring skilled migrants to grab opportunities in the UK and an array to the employers in the UK to obtain skilled resource on a global platform.

We at The SmartMove2UK advise and assist with the applications for UK Tier 2 General if you Certificate of Sponsorship has been received from a UK employer. We also provide our counsel to the UK employers who to apply for a Certificate of sponsorship. You can contact our UK Immigration experts on +919819127002 or email us at info@smartmove2uk.com if you are seeking legal help from UK visa consultants in relation to UK Tier 2 General visa.

If you have any comment or want to know anything about the UK Tier 2 Visa then you can call our immigration expert in Mumbai or you can also connect with us on

How much number of days needed to get Tier 2 visa for UK?

- Question asked in a forum
Typical processing time for a non settlement visa is 15 working days. Applicants can opt for priority processing where the outcome is processed in 3-5 working days.

How to find out whether my spouse getting company Visa I.E Tier 2 general obtaining by her employer?

- Question asked in a forum
An applicant applying for entry clearance as Skilled worker is granted a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) – you can ask the employer to provide you with a copy of the CoS that has been allocated to the applicant.

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